Enrile blasts Villar for unethical conduct

Cayetano says no conflict of interest

MANILA, Philippines (1st UPDATE) - Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on Monday accused Senator and Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Manuel Villar of unethical conduct and violating the 1987 Constitution for failing to divest himself of controlling shares in real estate firms that earned billions of pesos in taxpayer's money over road right-of-way projects.

According to the report of the Senate Committee of the Whole, Villar should be censured for failing to divulge that his real estate companies would benefit from the Las Piñas-Parañaque link road and the C-5 road extension projects.

The report said the government spent P6.2 billion on the C-5 road extension project, including the realigned P4.28 billion for the extension project, the P1.8 billion spent for the original project but was wasted due to the realignment, and the reportedly overpriced payment of P141 million in right-of-way for Villar's real estate companies.

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, however, contested the findings of the committee report as running counter to the testimones of some of the witnesses. He said government witnesses summoned by the Senate had testified that there was no realignment of the government road projects in Parañaque and Las Piñas and no misappropriation of funds for the same.

'Substantial, credible evidence'

In the report, Enrile said there was "substantial, credible evidence" to show that Villar and his wife, Congresswoman Cynthia Villar, owned 100% of Adelfa Corp, which is the holding company that owns Golden Haven Memorial Park and Azalea Property Corp., now Brittany.

He said the two real estate firms earned billions of pesos after the government bought their properties for two road projects namely the Las Piñas-Parañaque link road and the C-5 road extension project.

He said documentary evidence and the testimonies of several witnesses, including former Adelfa senior VP and general manager Anastacio Adriano Jr., showed that properties owned by Villar's real estate companies that were acquired for the road right-of-way projects were overpriced and given zonal valuation for different areas from the areas where they were situated.

"It is fair and safe to assume that Senator Villar knew and ought to have known of the said overpricing as his corporations stood to gain from such transactions from the government and considering the closeness of Sen. Villar to Adriano," Enrile said.

He noted that Villar used his influence as House Speaker to appropriate funds for the Las Piñas-Parañaque link road. He said Villar continued to fund the project when he was already a senator, as chairman of the Senate committee on finance, and when he was Senate president.

Enrile said there was a conflict of interest when Villar failed to divulge that his real estate companies stood to benefit from the road projects. He said that instead of benefiting from the road projects, Villar should have donated the land to the government.

He also scored Villar for refusing to appear in 12 Senate adjudicatory hearings to investigate allegations that his real estate companies benefited from government road projects in Parañaque and Las Piñas.

Villar has refused to appear in the Senate Committee of the Whole inquiry, saying that some members of the panel were his opponents in the presidential race.

'No conflict of interest'

In Villar's defense, Cayetano said the senator's real estate firm is just one of the developers who benefited from road right-of-way projects. He cited an 1999 opinion of former Justice Secretary Serafin Cuevas that there is no impropriety when government decides to enter into contract with a real estate firm owned by a member of Congress.

"He [Cuevas] said if the government wants to take over your property, there is no conflict of interest because the government has a project. The government is taking over your property. If Villar's companies had not dealt with government, the properties would have been expropriated. It would be a forced purchase. The difference is that in expropriation, the owner could contest the fair market value of the price. Villar could have earned more through expropriation," he said.

Cayetano also chastised senators for accusing Villar of cowardice when he refused to appear before the Senate Committee of the Whole inquiry.

"It is not true that a person is a coward just because he chooses the venue where he will defend himself. It means he has the qualities of a true president. It means he will not drag down his office because one senator or a couple of senators believe that they will win the election by throwing the C-5 issue and wanting the debate here on the floor," he said.

He also noted a sentence in the Senate Commmittee of the Whole report assuming Villar's guilt despite no direct evidence linking him to the overpricing of the properties.

"Since when have we had the right to assume? We will say in the report "there is no direct evidence" and then say he is guilty. This report would not have been released if not for politics. We should investigate who signed this report," he said.

Source: ABS-CBN News

Key issues Aquino, Erap, Gibo, Villar must address

MANILA - Philippine opposition senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino has taken an initial lead in opinion polls for the May presidential elections, but no clear favourite has emerged because candidates have not revealed their platforms.

Analysts say the presidential race will hurt local markets in a big way if the elections do not produce credible results, while a smooth transition of power will likely boost investments in local stocks and debt papers.

Here are some questions and answers on major economic and political issues markets want the top four presidential candidates to address:

HOW WILL YOU TACKLE CORRUPTION?

BENIGNO AQUINO - Aquino's phenomenal rise in popularity polls can be traced to an outpouring of emotion after the death of his mother, the country's revered democracy icon Corazon Aquino, in August 2009 and his campaign promise to fight corruption in government.

He vowed in his political ads and website to be the country's first and most determined corruption fighter, but he has not given details.

Unlike his three main rivals, he has not been involved in any corruption scandal and he has lived simply, opting to reside in the same house he grew up in.

MANUEL VILLAR - Billionaire lawmaker Villar, ranking second in most polls, has been linked to a multi-million dollar infrastructure project allegedly inserted in the national budget. His opponents say the project was aimed at benefitting his family's property company.

He promises to fight graft, which he said has contributed to poor delivery of services and bad infrastructure, but also has not given details.

JOSEPH ESTRADA - Former president Estrada was ousted from office in 2001, later convicted of plunder and then pardoned by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. He has denied any wrongdoing and has vowed to fight corruption and nepotism.

Estrada was known during his three-year rule for throwing midnight parties with gambling and drinking buddies.

GILBERTO TEODORO - Although former defence chief Gilberto Teodoro has never been involved in any irregularity, his close association with Arroyo, who has been hounded by corruption issues since 2005, weighs him down.

During his term as defence chief, Teodoro suspended a multi-million dollar deal to acquire combat helicopters due to allegations of bribery and contract fixing.

HOW WILL YOU LIFT STATE REVENUES?

AQUINO - Aquino has an economics degree but no experience as an economist. He has yet to lay down a clear platform on how to address the budget deficit problem and the market is nervous about how he will tackle the revenue shortfall given his little executive or managerial experience.

VILLAR - Villar has vowed to be prudent in state spending to cut the budget deficit, now at record levels, and raise revenues. He promised to raise the country's revenue to GDP ratio from 12 percent to 17 percent, but did not give details on the specific measures he will undertake.

ESTRADA - Estrada has not given details on his fiscal programme but in his short-lived presidency during the Asian financial crisis, he kept a tight rein on spending to limit the fiscal shortfall.

TEODORO - Teodoro is widely expected to continue the current government's fiscal programme, which aims to balance the budget by 2013.

HOW WILL YOU ADDRESS SECURITY ISSUES?

AQUINO - In his website, Aquino said he will pursue a broadly supported peace deal with Muslim rebels that will address decades of neglect. His running mate and the leader of his political party, Senator Manuel Roxas III, opposed a government deal expanding the autonomy for Muslims that led to an escalation of conflict in Mindanao in 2008.

VILLAR - He has said in public debates that poverty is the root of the the peace and order problem in the southern Mindanao region. He said state resources must be poured into the region if the government was serious in uplifting the lives of people in Mindano.

ESTRADA - He advocated iron-fisted policies to defeat communist and secessionist rebels during his administration and is expected to assume the same stance when elected.

TEODORO - As a former defence secretary, Teodoro is well placed to tackle the communist and Muslim insurgency issues. Like all the other candidates, he favours holding peace talks to end the insurgencies that have killed more than 160,000 people and displaced 2 million. He has also said the government must invest in increased police and military visibility in Mindanao to eradicate private armies.

Source: ABS-CBN News

Aquino leads rivals in Facebook face-off

THE leading contenders for the presidency are not too old for Facebook.

In the digital race to get more “fans” and online “supporters,” Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III of the Liberal Party is ahead of the pack.

So far, on their official pages in the online social networking site, Aquino has 210,988 supporters; Sen. Manuel Villar (Nacionalista Party), 158,016 fans, plus 2,756 in two other Facebook public profiles; former Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro (Lakas-Kampi-CMD), 26,907 fans and 3,100 supporters; Sen. Richard Gordon (Bagumbayan), 2,894 supporters, and former President Joseph Estrada (Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino), 4,050 supporters.

Estrada has another Facebook account with 421 fans.

Sen. Jamby Madrigal (independent) has 201 fans, while the two youth group accounts of Olongapo Councilor JC de los Reyes (Ang Kapatiran) have 861 and 71 members.

The Inquirer made the count at 3 p.m. Saturday, but the figures continued to change at press time.

Read the whole story at Inquirer.net.